


Confound and Astound

by eeyore9990



Series: 30 Thankful Days (2016) [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Music, Alternate Universe - Reality Show, Derek is a judge, M/M, Pre-Slash, Stiles is a contestant on a singing show, Stiles is a musician, anyway here's wonderwall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-28 13:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8447482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eeyore9990/pseuds/eeyore9990
Summary: It's the last city, the last day of auditions for US Idol, and Derek is physically and mentally exhausted. When another smirky little shit with a beat up guitar walks in, Derek is... done. He's just so done.Oasis needs to pay him for this shit.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Little_red_2000](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_red_2000/gifts).



> 30 Thankful Days 2016: Day 1. Gift for aj-2000.

Derek rubbed the heels of his hands against his eyes, feeling the utter exhaustion that came with three straight weeks of auditions. Three weeks during which they had mostly heard nothing but off key warbling by kids who had grown up in an age of "everyone's a winner" mentality.

Sometimes -- most times -- he wanted to wring the necks of the people who had set these kids up to fail in such a humiliating manner. But then there were the ones who waited in line for days _just_ to be humiliated. The ones who simply wanted their faces splashed across the television screens of the world, regardless of how brief and how horrifying their ten seconds of fame.

Derek could not understand those people.

The door opened then, drawing Derek out of his daze, and he shared a look with Kira when the kid stumbled over thin air, nearly dropping his -- Derek winced -- obviously hand-me-down acoustic guitar. Derek tried to swallow just right, hoping to clog his ears, but all that happened was Erica, on his other side, pinched his thigh viciously.

The kid managed to find the middle of the audition stage without catastrophe and blew out a deep breath before offering Derek, Kira, Erica, and Isaac a half-smirk, which set all Derek's inner alarms blaring. If this kid shrugged and offered their thousandth, "Anyway, here's Wonderwall," Derek wouldn't be responsible for his actions.

Instead, his narrowed gaze landed on the place where the kid's long fingers were gripping the neck of the guitar, his pinky finger twitching a little with nerves before the kid cleared his throat, obviously waiting for some signal from… Oh, right, the panel of judges. 

And it was Derek's turn.

"What's your name?" he bit out, a little too harshly, which normally would have set the hopeful contestant to wibbling but just made this kid set his jaw and narrow his eyes with some cross between determination and menace.

"Stiles Stilinski," the kid answered in a challenging tone, obviously not missing the way Derek rolled his eyes and exchanged a _can you believe this shit_ glance with Isaac.

"Stiles," Kira said, smiling kindly -- because that was her job, to be nice where Derek had cultivated a rude and dismissive on-show personality. "What will you be singing today?"

"Wonder--"

"Ah, Jesus," Derek snorted, throwing himself against the back of his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. "Get on with it and get out of here. You just took up someone else's audition spot for this bullshit. I hope you're happy with yourself."

"Oh, fuck you," 'Stiles' muttered, cheeks going splotchy and eyes nearly glowing with ire. "It's a good fucking song, not that you'd know one of those."

"Do you -- no, you know what? Embarrass yourself. Go on."

From where he was sitting, Derek could see the way Stiles clenched his teeth hard enough to set a muscle leaping in his jawline, but he didn't give a shit. This little fucker was wasting everyone's time.

Stiles flicked his fingers over the strings of the guitar in a brief strum, then gave it a quick tune before he squared his shoulders, lifted his chin, and stared right at Derek when he sang his first line a capella. 

_"Doctors have come from distant cities, just to see me…"_

Derek pursed his lips just to keep them from twisting up with his own mortification. Guilt squirmed through his belly when he realized Stiles was singing Natalie Merchant's Wonder, _not_ Wonderwall, and doing a decent job of it. For all that his voice was a little shaky, the kid was making the song his own, giving it a bittersweet twist as he crooned it in a slower, more melancholy tune. 

When no one stopped him after the first verse, Stiles' eyes went wide and he stumbled a little over a chord change, but he blinked and smiled a little at Kira before he swept into the second verse, closing his eyes and committing to the song.

That's when it went from surprisingly not bad to soul-stirringly _good._ Derek couldn't have said when his arms uncrossed or when he leaned forward, but suddenly, he was on the edge of his seat, _aching_ from the sadness that poured from Stiles' voice straight into his ears. 

Instead of slowing down for the bridge, Stiles' fingers slammed into the strings, his voice going harsh as he sang coldly about fate and destiny, turning the tale of the song on its head. Derek could almost _hear_ destiny laughing in cruel mockery down at the child the song told of, and he gasped as he felt goosebumps break out along his arms.

Stiles' fingers froze the vibration of the guitar strings, his voice easing into a lonely whisper as he allowed the song to trail to its inevitable end. When the last echo of the last note faded, he opened his eyes, somehow staring directly at Derek once more.

Shaken, Derek blinked, breaking away from staring at Stiles to give a swift glance left and right, _needing_ to see what his co-judges -- people who had become as close as family -- thought. Kira's cheeks were wet with tears, Isaac looked as shell-shocked as Derek felt, and Erica… Erica was rising to her feet, her ruby lips parted in awe as she began to slowly applaud.

Derek released a shaky breath, gesturing toward Jordan, the show's charismatic host. Jordan's eyebrows shot up before he started to grin, making a frantic roll tape motion at Boyd, the cameraman. Boyd rolled his eyes, tapping a finger against the blinking red light on the front of the camera.

"What…" Kira coughed to clear her throat, then giggled a little before pulling a pack of tissues from her purse and wiping at her eyes. "What made you pick that song? That _version_ of that song? It's so…" She spread her hands, biting her lip, obviously unsure how to describe the raw emotion that had just poured through the room.

"My mom taught me to play the guitar," Stiles said, ducking his head and fiddling with the frets on the guitar. "That was her favorite song. She'd sing it to me all the time…" His eyes cut to the camera and his lips twisted into a grimace as his words faded away.

Derek didn't need to hear more. He pulled out the last remaining 'golden ticket' and dashed his signature off on the line at the bottom. Holding it up, he waited for Stiles to notice the paper and step forward, those expressive eyes narrowed in quite reasonable distrust, based on Derek's earlier behavior. When he reached out to grab the paper, Derek held on tight and murmured, "Sorry. I thought you were another Wonderwall Asshole."

Stiles held his stare for a moment before dropping his chin in a nod, acknowledging Derek's apology. But as soon as Derek released the ticket, Stiles flashed him a shit-eating grin and sang under his breath, "Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you…"

"Asshole," Derek grumbled, but couldn't stop his lips from twitching in amusement.

"Maybe," Stiles said with a nod, grinning brightly. "But I'm an asshole who's going to New York City."

Derek rolled his eyes and waited until Stiles was almost out the door before he called out, "Lose the plaid, kid. And find some pants that fit. You're gonna be on TV."

"If you wanted to get a better look at my ass, all you had to do was ask," Stiles shot back with a wink before slipping out the door. A muffled cheer from outside let the judges know Stiles' friends and family had just received the good news.

But inside the room, Derek had to smack Erica's hand away from where she was trying to pinch yet another bruise into his thigh. "Whaaat?!"

"You can't sleep with him," she said, eyes narrowed dangerously. "I like this one. Boy's got something special. He could really make it."

"Also, there's the contract we all signed," Derek muttered dryly.

"That too."

Derek turned his eyes back to the door, already plotting ways to make sure Stiles made it far enough to secure a lucrative recording contract without winning the final. Because, yeah… Stiles had something really special, indeed.

And his singing wasn't bad either.


End file.
